“You see persons and things not as they are
but as you are. ” Anthony de Mello

Saturday, August 15, 2009

meanderings...

Home alone.....in the peace and quiet of a hot summer days-end, and my thoughts and feelings are meandering through the slowness of the pace. My favourite music is on, finding my stillness like the heartwarmth of being with a kindred spirit. Somehow music has the ability to spill breezes of belonging into our souls. A light touch kiss, which softens any hardening of the spirit. Just the right choice of music can steer you into a contented harbour where you are welcomed and loved as you are always......

Maybe that's the reason why we gravitate to it like thirsty pilgrims in need of a sip of cool, cool water. The melodies which touch our individual souls, the lyrics which tap into the essence of who we are, the voices which we seek out during times when we need reflective solace is like stepping into paradise.... As Van Morrison sings so beautifully..... "this must be what paradise is like....it's so quiet in here, so peaceful in here. " Enlightenment is captured in the verses of the hymns we long to hear..... and I love it!

Even when the choice of music is in need of ripping volume, one can escape into the cavern of its notes and find a corner to sit and allow it to flow all around and inside you...... This is so at any concert I've attended. It's an encasement inside joy and sometimes if you're very lucky, rapture. Is there anything more life affirming than reaching into the core of rapture??

It all depends on our preferences too, where this rapture dwells ..... the sweet sexiness of jazz, the body movement tempo of a ballad, the heat of a rockin' guitar riff, the heartbouncing beat of a drum, the soulful sound of one pure voice, the blur of a metal band, the magical echoes of a group whose music grabs your innards and yanks it through your tear ducts. It depends on where we are, and what we savour. Music soars through our veins inarticulately.....

Me? I love all types of music, and often will choose based on where I am emotionally, physically and spiritually . Sometimes I want it to parallel how I'm feeling, or make me feel it deeper. Sometimes, I pick tunes that will lift me up and out of a grey cloud. Sometimes, I want to play music that I know so intimately in order to conjure up memories of gladness and loving security. I don't own an I-Pod because I prefer to have it playing in the air around me and not directly from machine to ears. I do like that at times, and have tried it, but it makes me feel like I'm not in touch with the rest of the world. If I am out walking or travelling, I want to hear the sounds around me...... they are just as important as music. However, I have asked for an I-Pod for my birthday this year, because my CD's skip!

Today, at the end of a slow pace.....an "in the long now..." leisurely kind of day when I am meandering through past and present reflections, my choices would seem quite varied to anyone who doesn't know me. But they all seem to represent different parts of my essence.

Right now, I am listening to a Van Morrison CD that my husband made me.....he entitled it "Celtic Soul." On it is the song we danced to on our wedding night....Irish Heartbeat. I remember the first time we danced to it....on a New Year's Eve when we first realized how strong our feelings were for one another. Somehow the song melted our hearts together. Somehow that song brought us together, and away from all others. It was a dance which began the courtship that continues.....

I smile today.....full of thoughts and feelings of what is and what was.....of where I am and where I hope to go.... captured in the chords of gladness. C'mon over. I'd love to share this quiet place with you. Please bring your favourite tunes to help with the meanderings inside a Saturday evening sanctuary. The piano plays on.....do I hear a saxophone....?

"this must be what its all about ..... this must be what paradise is like ... so quiet in here, so peaceful in here...."

3 comments:

All my life Music has been so very important to me...ALL kinds, like you.....Classical, Jazz, Broadway, Pop, etc. And I always had a record or a tape going....Even in the car---I listened to music only--NO TALK RADIO...UGH! Tapes or Classical or Broadway.....But, I realize I almost never listen to music anymore and I'm not sure why. If there is a special concert on PBS or some repeat of something I particularly love---I listen and watch....It is weird in a way, and I am not sure I understand why this has happened to me...Hmmmmmmm. I'll have to give this some heavy thought! Your post has stirred these thoughts, Dana. Because I know that Music has always filled my soul and my heart...I mean, I write music....! So it is strange, that's for sure.

Naomi...that is very interesting.....I hate talk radio too. It's just a bunch of blowhards with anger issues. I do listen to the CBC here which is like your NPR. I like most of the programming, and particularly like the music in the morning on CBC 2. I'd love to know what you ended up considering as to why your interest in listening to music has stopped. Perhaps it stirs up too many memories?